HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Zoomusicology () is the study of the
musical aspect Music can be analysed by considering a variety of its elements, or parts (aspects, characteristics, features), individually or together. A commonly used list of the main elements includes pitch, timbre, texture, volume, duration, and form. Th ...
s of
sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...
and
communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
as produced and perceived by animals. It is a field of
musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...
and
zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, an ...
, and is a type of
zoosemiotics Zoosemiotics is the semiotic study of the use of signs among animals, more precisely the study of semiosis among animals, i.e. the study of how something comes to function as a sign to some animal. It is the study of animal forms of knowing. Consi ...
. Zoomusicology as a field dates to François-Bernard Mâche's 1983 book Music, Myth, and Nature, or the Dolphins of Arion (published in English in 1992), and has been developed more recently by scholars such as Dario Martinelli, David Rothenberg,
Hollis Taylor use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...
,
David Teie Zoomusicology () is the study of the musical aspects of sound and communication as produced and perceived by animals. It is a field of musicology and zoology, and is a type of zoosemiotics. Zoomusicology as a field dates to François-Bernard M� ...
, and
Emily Doolittle Emily Lenore Doolittle (born 16 October 1972) is a Canadian composer, zoomusicologist, and Athenaeum Research Fellow and Lecturer in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her music, frequently inspired by ...
. Zoomusicology is a separate field from
ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
, the study of human music. Unlike other animals, mankind makes music for purposes other than attracting mates or defending territory. Zoomusicologists in a wide range of fields including
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
,
semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...
,
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
and
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...
conduct zoomusicology research. This is due to the fact that the field of zoomusicology is so broad and reaches many disciplines. Musician and zoomusicologist
Hollis Taylor use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...
has conducted an extensive study of the Pied Butcherbird, Cracticus nigrogularis over the past 15 years, including interdisciplinary research with philosophers and scientists. Clarinetist, and philosopher David Rothenberg plays music with animals, and has written books on the relationship between bird, insect, and whale song and human music. Composer
Emily Doolittle Emily Lenore Doolittle (born 16 October 1972) is a Canadian composer, zoomusicologist, and Athenaeum Research Fellow and Lecturer in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her music, frequently inspired by ...
has written numerous pieces based on animal songs, and has published interdisciplinary music-science research on the hermit thrush and the musician wren. Heavy metal bands such as
Hatebeak Hatebeak is an American death metal band, formed by Blake Harrison and Mark Sloan, featuring Waldo (b. 1991), a grey parrot. Hatebeak is reported to be the first band to have an avian vocalist. They never tour so as to not torture the bird. Hatebe ...
, Caninus, Naegleria Fowleri, and Boar Glue have released music fronted by
grey parrot The grey parrot (''Psittacus erithacus''), also known as the Congo grey parrot, Congo African grey parrot or African grey parrot, is an Old World parrot in the family Psittacidae. The Timneh parrot ''(Psittacus timneh)'' once was identified as ...
,
pit bull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
,
Amazon parrot Amazon parrots are parrots in the genus ''Amazona''. They are medium-sized, short-tailed parrots native to the Americas, with their range extending from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean. ''Amazona'' is one of the 92 genera of parrots ...
, and
guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...
, respectively.
Susan Belanger Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...
has also contributed to the field of zoomusicology, with her work on soft song in the Asian corn borer moth, ''
Ostrinia furnacalis ''Ostrinia furnacalis'' is a species of moth in the family Crambidae, the grass moths. It was described by Achille Guenée in 1854 and is known by the common name Asian corn borer since this species is found in Asia and feeds mainly on corn cro ...
'' and its relationship to the initiation of mating behaviour. Researcher
Patricia Gray Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United Stat ...
has examined the music that can be seen in whales and songbirds. This list is by no means all encompassing, but simply lists some notable members of the zoomusicology research community.


Human-Animal interactions

Snowden and Teie created species-specific music and tested it on cotton-top tamarins, ''
Saguinus oedipus The cotton-top tamarin (''Saguinus oedipus'') is a small New World monkey weighing less than . This New World monkey can live up to 24 years, but most of them die by 13 years. One of the smallest primates, the cotton-top tamarin is easily recogn ...
'' at the University of Wisconsin. The results of this study, indicated that species-specific music was the most effective music to elicit a response. There have been several other musicians over the years who have performed with or for animals, hoping to elicit responses. Examples include: the song "Seamus" from
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
's 1971 album ''
Meddle ''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a series of locations around London, including EM ...
'' featuring
Steve Marriott Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over two decades. Marriott was inducted pos ...
's
Border Collie The Border Collie is a Scottish breed of herding dog of medium size. Widely considered to be the most intelligent dog breed, they are descended from landrace sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles, but became standardised in the Ang ...
Seamus howling along to an acoustic blues song. The performance was repeated in "Mademoiselle Nobs" for the film '' Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii'' (1972) with a different dog, Nobs.
Paul Horn (musician) Paul Horn (March 17, 1930 – June 29, 2014) was an American flautist, saxophonist, composer and producer. He became a pioneer of world and new age music with his 1969 album '' Inside''. He received five Grammy nominations between 1965 and 1999, i ...
played flute to Haida, a
killer whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pat ...
(orca) living at
Sealand of the Pacific Sealand of the Pacific was a public aquarium in South Oak Bay at The Oak Bay Marina, near the city of Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada. It housed a number of orcas: Haida, Nootka, and Tilikum. In 1991, all three were involved in an inciden ...
in
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...
on his album ''Inside II'' (1972), though the response was merely spyhopping.
Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...
played his saxophone for both wolves (who howled) and gray whales (who did not) on his album ''Common Ground'' (1978). Composer
Jim Nollman Jim Nollman (born January 1947 in Boston) is a composer of music for theatre, a conceptual artist, and an environmental activist. He graduated from Tufts University in 1969. In 1973, he composed a Thanksgiving Day radio piece and recorded himse ...
plays guitar and wooden flute to such species as whales, wolves and turkeys. David Rothenberg, a clarinetist, has played to humpback whales, cicadas and birds (2005-2013) with no apparent response.'' Composer
David Sulzer David Sulzer (born November 6, 1956) is an American neuroscientist and musician. He is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center in the departments of psychiatry, neurology, and pharmacology. Sulzer's laboratory investigates the interact ...
, under the name David Soldier and the Thai Elephant Orchestra, built giant percussion instruments for the elephants at the
National Elephant Institute The National Elephant Institute was founded as the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC) in 1993. In January 2002, in order to enlarge the scope of conservation efforts and address the issues facing Thailand's elephants, it was proposed that ...
at
Lampang Lampang, also called Nakhon Lampang ( th, นครลำปาง, ) to differentiate from Lampang province, is the third largest city in northern Thailand and capital of Lampang province and the Mueang Lampang district. Traditional names for L ...
to play, with minimal human direction. Composers have long evoked or imitated animal sounds in compositions, including
Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread ...
's ''
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi) ''The Four Seasons'' ( it, Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720, when Vivaldi was th ...
'' (1720),
Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and ...
's ''The Hen'' (1728),
Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...
's ''
The Carnival of the Animals ''The Carnival of the Animals'' (''Le Carnaval des animaux'') is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements, including " The Swan", by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work, about 25 minutes in duration, was written for privat ...
'' (1886),
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
's ''
The Swan of Tuonela ''The Swan of Tuonela'' (') is an 1895 tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is part of the '' (Four Legends from the Kalevala)'', Op. 22, based on the Finnish mythological epic the ''Kalevala''. ''The Swan of Tuonela'' was orig ...
'' (1895),
Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...
's '' On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring'' (1912),
Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
's ''
The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams) ''The Lark Ascending'' is a short, single-movement work by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, inspired by the 1881 poem of the same name by the English writer George Meredith. It was originally for violin and piano, completed in 191 ...
'' (1914),
Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. His compositions range over operas, ballets, orchestral su ...
's ''
Pines of Rome ''Pines of Rome'' ( it, Pini di Roma, link=no), P 141, is a tone poem in four movements for orchestra completed in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is the second of his three tone poems about Rome, following ''Fontane di Roma'' ...
'' (1924) and '' The Birds (Respighi)'' (1928),
Ferde Grofé Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé, known as Ferde Grofé (March 27, 1892 April 3, 1972) (pronounced FUR-dee GROW-fay) was an American composer, arranger, pianist and instrumentalist. He is best known for his 1931 five-movement tone poem, '' Grand Ca ...
's ''
Grand Canyon Suite The ''Grand Canyon Suite'' is a suite for orchestra by Ferde Grofé, composed between 1929 and 1931. It was initially titled ''Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon''. It consists of five movements, each an evocation in tone of a particular scene t ...
'' (1931),
Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...
's ''Catalogue of the Birds'' (1956–58),
George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...
's ''
Vox Balaenae ''Vox Balaenae'' (''Voice of the Whale''), is a work for electric flute, electric cello and amplified piano by the American avant-garde composer George Crumb. It was composed for performance by the New York Camerata in 1971. Background As the nam ...
'' (Voice of the Whale) (1971), and
Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...
's ''El Relicario de los Animales'' (1977). Some modern composers have included recordings of animals in their scores, including
Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American- Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) a ...
's '' And God Created Great Whales'' (1970),
Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. T ...
's ''
Cantus Arcticus ''Cantus Arcticus'', Op. 61, is a 1972 orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. It is one of his best-known works. Subtitled ''Concerto for Birds and Orchestra'', it incorporates tape recordings of birdsong recorded ...
'' (1972),
Gabriel Pareyon Gabriel Pareyon (born October 23, 1974, Zapopan, Jalisco) is a polymathic Mexican composer and musicologist, who has published literature on topics of philosophy and semiotics. He has a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Helsinki, where ...
's ''Invention over the song of the Vireo atriccapillus'' (1999) and ''Kha Pijpichtli Kuikatl'' (2003). In 1960 American engineer Jim Fassett put together an album of slowed-down and re-arranged bird songs called ''Symphony of the Birds''.
Novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...
s pieced together from the sounds of dogs ( The Singing Dogs) or cats ( Jingle Cats) enjoyed brief popularity in the 1950s-60s.
Field recording Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...
expert
Bernie Krause Bernard L. Krause (born December 8, 1938) is an American musician and soundscape ecologist. In 1968, he founded Wild Sanctuary, an organization dedicated to the recording and archiving of natural soundscapes. Krause is an author, a bio-acoustici ...
in 1988 released a single ("Jungle Shoes"/"Fish Wrap") and an album (''Gorillas in the Mix'') of songs composed of animal and nature sounds. The Indian zoomusicologist, A. J. Mithra composed music using bird, animal and
frog sound A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
s from 2008 until his death in 2014. In that same year, New York
beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.
artist Ben Mirin began incorporating animal sounds into his beats.


Music produced by animals


Birds

The most well-known form of music found in non-human animals is
birdsong Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalizations) are distinguished by func ...
. Birdsong is different from normal calls. For example, a call will usually simply function to communicate a direct message. For instance, a bird call could be used to direct attention that a predator is near. Meanwhile, a song contains more repetition and usually will have distinct structure to it, with a specific beginning, middle, and end. In many species of
songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...
s, songs seem to be used both as a way to attract potential mates, as well as to mark and defend one's territory. It has been observed that young songbirds acquire their ability to produce song from imitation of adult birds. There seems to be a critical period for song learning. In one experiment, they compared birds raised in isolation, (this involved isolation from other birds as well as the vocalizations of other birds), with those raised in a colony, without these forms of isolation. Using an
fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area ...
scan and the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) as a measurement of brain activity, it was found that birds raised in the isolation condition did not appear to show a preference between their own songs and a repetitive song. Meanwhile, colony-raised birds showed a stronger reaction to their own song being played back.


Mimicry

Several species of birds can mimic the songs of other birds, or even mechanical sounds. These include, with varying degrees of success,
starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus '' Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...
s,
mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. ...
s,
thrasher Thrashers are a New World group of passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genera. These do not form a clade but are ...
s,
crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
s and
raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between " crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigne ...
s,
parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...
s,
myna The myna (; also spelled mynah) is a bird of the starling family (Sturnidae). This is a group of passerine birds which are native to southern Asia, especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Several species have been introduced to areas lik ...
birds,
Blue jay The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are ...
s,
Lyrebird A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environ ...
s,
Lawrence's thrush Lawrence's thrush (''Turdus lawrencii'') is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and gre ...
es,
Acrocephalus (bird) The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler fa ...
(March warblers), and others. Mozart kept a
starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus '' Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...
that could mimic some of his music.


Functions and effects of music on animals


Mammals

Snowden and Teie performed an experiment on Cotton-top tamarins, ''Saguinus oedipus'', to determine if music would lead to behavioural changes, and whether music made by other species would elicit similar behavioural responses as the music of one's own species. This experiment involved two separate categories of music - one was affiliation-based, the other was fear/threat-based music. Within the two categories, the experimenter varied whether the music was produced by
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
s or tamarins. During the experiment, a baseline behaviour measurement was established, proceeded by the experimental condition, which was a piece of music that was played for 30 seconds. Following this, behaviour was analyzed for a total of 5 minutes. This analysis was made by an observer who was unaware of the true hypothesis of the experiment, and simply noted different behaviours which they had witnessed. The experimenters found that the Tamarins altered their behaviour specifically when listening to Tamarin music. For example, when music from the affiliation condition was played, the behavioural response of the tamarins involved a decrease in overall movement and an increase in both social and foraging behaviour. This contrasted the behaviour observed when the fear/threat based music was played. During this condition, the Tamarins were more likely to move around and show anxiety-based behaviour, as well as, an increase in social behaviour similar to that seen in the affiliation condition. Although the Tamarins did not show behavioural changes to human music as clearly as they did to their species-specific music, there was some behavioural change. The Tamarins showed decreased movement when listening to human fear/threat based music and a decrease in anxious behaviour when listening to human affiliation music. This experiment demonstrates that music is capable of eliciting changes in the behaviour of animals, most especially when the music is species-specific. Humpback whales, ''Megaptera novaeangliae'', are capable of the production of complex songs. These songs are amongst some of the longest measured in animals. Only male humpback whales perform these vocalizations; it was initially hypothesized that these songs may be a part of the
sexual selection Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex (in ...
process. This point however, is unclear. It has been found that males only began their song after joining a group where pairs of mother and calf were present. Although the reason behind this behaviour is uncertain, some have hypothesized that the songs produced by male humpback whales may be a part of escorting, or accompanying females. Singing can be a costly behaviour, because it can lead to more attention being drawn. In the humpback whales’ situation, their singing can attract other competing males. Yet, the singing behaviour continues and therefore, it is assumed that the songs are critical to the courtship behaviour of the humpback whales.


Insects

One potential barrier in the study of zoomusicology is that there are some forms of music produced by various animals which humans are incapable of hearing. This music is very low in amplitude and is known as quiet song, whisper communication, or soft song. This low amplitude music has been shown in birds, as well as insects and is linked to behaviour. Moth species have been shown to have developed the ability to communicate using ultrasonic sounds, and this ability has transferred over to their production of soft songs. In the
Asian corn borer moth ''Ostrinia furnacalis'' is a species of moth in the family Crambidae, the grass moths. It was described by Achille Guenée in 1854 and is known by the common name Asian corn borer since this species is found in Asia and feeds mainly on corn crop ...
, ''Ostrinia furnacalis'', males produce an ultrasonic soft song to initiate courtship behaviour. The song that the male produces is so quiet that the female must be within a range of three centimeters in order to hear the song. In hearing the song, the female stays in one place and is completely still; this allows the male to initiate mating behaviour. The reason that the female remains still is because the song sounds very similar to sounds that a bat would produce. The female therefore remains still in order to avoid potential
predation Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...
. There is another added benefit to this soft song produced by the male Asian corn borer moth, and that is that the song is so quiet that it decreases the males’ predation risk. Although these soft songs are far less well known to the general public, they are an important aspect of zoomusicology and the further understanding of
animal behaviour Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...
.    


Auditory enrichment and therapeutic effects of music on animals


Cows

In an unpublished study at the
University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...
, Liam MacKenzie and Adrian North found that playing music for
dairy cows Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was ...
had an effect on the amount of milk that they produced. Over a nine-week period, dairy cows were exposed to fast (> 120 BPM), slow (< 100 BPM), and no music. Music was played for the cows 12 hours a day from 5 AM to 5 PM. The study found that cows exposed to slow music, like
REM Rem or REM may refer to: Music * R.E.M., an American rock band * ''R.E.M.'' (EP), by Green * "R.E.M." (song), by Ariana Grande Organizations * La République En Marche!, a French centrist political party * Reichserziehungsministerium, in Nazi ...
's '
Everybody Hurts "Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, '' Automatic for the People'' (1992), and released as a single in April 1993. It peaked at number 29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top ...
' or
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
's '
Pastoral Symphony The Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the ''Pastoral Symphony'' (German: ''Pastorale''), is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and completed in 1808. One of Beethoven's few works containing explicitly programmatic con ...
,' produced 3% more milk than cows that were exposed to fast music, like
Pumping on your Stereo "Pumping on Your Stereo" is a song by Supergrass, released as their first single from their self-titled third album (1999) on 24 May 1999. The single reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart and in New Zealand. It also peaked at No. 13 on the Can ...
by
Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ...
and 'Size of a Cow' by
Wonderstuff The Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock band. Originally based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England, the band's first lineup released four albums and nearly 20 singles and EPs, enjoying considerable chart and live success in t ...
. Bovine milk production has long been thought to be affected by exposure to music. Some farmers already expose their cows to music to aid in milk production.


Dogs

Decreased stress levels have been observed in kennelled dogs that were exposed to classical music, but rapid
habituation Habituation is a form of non-associative learning in which an innate (non-reinforced) response to a stimulus decreases after repeated or prolonged presentations of that stimulus. Responses that habituate include those that involve the intact org ...
was also observed. In a 2017 follow up study, kennelled dogs were exposed to five different genres of music including
soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
,
Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
,
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
,
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
, and classical in order to determine whether or not increased variety of music could reduce habituation. The study found the Heart Rate Variability, which indicates a decreased stress level, was significantly higher when the dogs were played reggae and soft rock, but the other three genres had a similar but less pronounced effect. In addition, the dogs were much more likely to lie down rather than stand while the music was being played. The study suggested that the increased variety of music decreased habituation that was present when playing exclusively classical music, though the dogs responded best when exposed to reggae and soft rock.


See also

*
Animal communication Animal communication is the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) that affects the current or future behavior of the receivers. Information may be sent int ...
*
Animal echolocation Echolocation, also called bio sonar, is a biological sonar used by several animal species. Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these ...
*
Bioacoustics Bioacoustics is a cross-disciplinary science that combines biology and acoustics. Usually it refers to the investigation of sound production, dispersion and reception in animals (including humans). This involves neurophysiological and anatomical ...
* Biomusic *
Biophony Soundscape ecology is the study of the acoustic relationships between living organisms, human and other, and their environment, whether the organisms are marine or terrestrial. First appearing in the ''Handbook for Acoustic Ecology'' edited by Ba ...
* List of animal sounds *
Nora (cat) Nora The Piano Cat (born September 10, 2004) is a gray tabby cat, rescued from the streets of Camden, New Jersey, by the Furrever Friends animal shelter. Nora gained international prominence after a YouTube video of her playing the piano went vira ...
* Soundscape ecology *
Vocal learning Vocal learning is the ability to modify acoustic and syntactic sounds, acquire new sounds via imitation, and produce vocalizations. "Vocalizations" in this case refers only to sounds generated by the vocal organ (mammalian larynx or avian syrinx) as ...


References


Bibliography

* Marcello Sorce Keller. “Zoomusicology”, Janet Sturman (ed.) ''The SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture''. Los Angeles: SAGE Reference, 2019, Vol. V, 2411-2414. * Marcello Sorce Keller,“Linnaeus, Zoomusicology, Ecomusicology, and the Quest for Meaningful Categories”, ''Musicological Annual'', Univerza v Ljubljai, Filozofska faculteta, LII(2016), no. 2, 163-176. * Marcello Sorce Keller, “Zoomusicology and Ethnomusicology: A Marriage to Celebrate in Heaven.” ''Yearbook for Traditional Music''. XLIV(2012), 166-183.


External links


Zoomusicology
by Dario Martinelli
Zoosemiotics
- Animal communication on the web
Zoomusicology
by Hollis Taylor {{ethology